Michael Byrne: Donegal minors looking to kick on in championship opener in Breffni

The traditional soccer stronghold of Inishowen has been putting down strong GAA roots recently.

Go back to 2012 and Buncrana’s Ryan Bradley was a key figure on the All-Ireland winning team of 2012 and before that the towering Paul McGonigle was a key figure on county teams.

READ NEXT: Minor captain Mark Wilkinson says Donegal have been gearing towards Cavan and championship 

These days Donegal has Caolan McGonagle, Caolan McColgan and Conor O’Donnell on the current NFL-champions squad.

And Donegal minor mentor Michael Byrne (40) is a proud Inishowen man and played and managed Malin in his long career.

This is his first year at county level, and he is enjoying the experience under Karl Lacey.

“I played with Malin for years and then managed them for three years and we were in Division 1 and we got to the Intermediate final,” he said.

“And then I stopped and got a phone call from Karl Lacey last summer and the rest is history.

“Donegal had a mixed league and drew with Antrim away and Monaghan beat us by a point and they have a very good team.”

Meanwhile, Inishowen is well represented on the minor squad with Danny Óg Cooney and Tadhg McDaid from Urris and three lads from Moville, Rory Gill, Dara O’Hare and Charlie McLaughlin who is sadly out with a long-term injury.

But it is certainly changed times for the region when it comes to intercounty representation.

Asked if there were many still around from last year’s team, he referenced Mark Wilkinson, his Red Hugh’s captain who is pretty experienced at this level.

“Mark brings that and he is a good leader.”

Donegal beat Armagh in Convoy which “was good” and Derry “beat us by a goal with the last kick of the game in very windy conditions.”

“I suppose we had a chance to look at a lot of different players.

“We went out every match to win, and we wanted to be in one of those finals, but it just did not happen for us.

Byrne added: “We have had a few weeks to prepare for Cavan now.

“I suppose there have been periods where we have been very good in every match, but it is that consistency in all games that we need to aim for.

“We have Cavan in Breffni on Saturday and while it is a long two hour plus journey for many of our lads, it is a challenge we are eagerly looking forward to.

“Cavan beat Derry in the Shield final in Breffni Park and will be buoyed by that while we are just going to concentrate on ourselves and try to look at issues like consistency and trying to get that 60-minute performance.

“We need to look at composure and decision-making. I thought we defended really well throughout the League and that has been a strength.”

Even if Donegal lose there is a back door chance the following week. But Byrne and Donegal would naturally much prefer the front door.

“It’s a big step up and Karl Lacey is just brilliant, and he is a great person to learn from. It’s the way he goes about things.”